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Ian McKellen Talks About Returning For X-Men: Days Of Future Past

Now that he’s done being Gandalf for what promises to be last time, Ian McKellen has agreed to reprise another one of his most famous roles: X-Men‘s Magneto for Bryan Singer’s upcoming X-Men: Days Of Future Past. Magneto, of course, was played by Michael Fassbender in X-Men: First Class (and will be again for this sequel), though given that the story is set between multiple time-frames, there’s room for both versions of the character.

Here’s what McKellen had to say about taking on the role again and working with Patrick Stewart (also set to return as an older, balder Charles Xavier):

“What a gas! I mean, Patrick Stewart and I have been have just been playing Waiting For Godot throughout England and in the West End of London. So, we’ve stayed in touch. We can’t believe it [laughs]. I thought these were [Michael] Fassbender and [James] McAvoy’s parts, but – no, no – we’re back. We’ll give them a run for their money. I mean, I haven’t read the script, so I don’t know how much we’ve got to do. But, to be back in that world, and for Bryan [Singer] to be doing it – with all the success he’s had in the meantime – it’s wonderful. Wonderful.”

As for Fassbender’s take on his character in X-Men: First Class, McKellen was highly complimentary:

“I thought he was exactly that: first class. Excellent…I thought he was better than me. But, we weren’t quite playing the same character because he was so much younger than me.”

For those unaware, here’s the plot synopsis for the upcoming movie:

The storyline alternates between present day, in which the X-Men fight Mystique’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and a future timeline caused by the X-Men’s failure to prevent the Brotherhood from assassinating Senator Robert Kelly. In this future universe, Sentinels rule the United States, and mutants live in internment camps. The present-day X-Men are forewarned of the possible future by a future version of their teammate Kitty Pryde, whose mind traveled back in time and possessed her younger self to warn the X-Men.

What do you think? Excited about the possibility that both Fassbender and McKellen could share some time together on screen?